Cinnamon Ginger Applesauce

Ingredients:

1 bag of apple

2 tablespoons of shredded ginger ‘Sheng Jiang’ and ginger peel ‘Sheng Jiang Pi’

3 cinnamon sticks ‘Rou Gui’

1/2 cup sugar

Fresh Ginger 'Sheng Jiang'

Cut and peel (optional) the apples and put them in a big pot over low heat. Add one cup of water along with the cinnamon sticks and let them steam for about 10-15 minutes. After they appear to be softening up, try to break them up with a fork and stir in the sugar, (may use maple syrup as well or no sugar at all if you want it to be sugar free). Continue to simmer for about 40 minutes until you get the consistency you want, it will be chunkier with the skins on the apple. After you get the desired consistency, remove the apples from heat and add in the ginger! Mix well and wait to cool, then put in mason jars and enjoy! Should last for a week or so in the refrigerator.  Yum…

Thanks Elana for this tasty treat!

In terms of Western pharmacology, mung beans possess antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, detoxicant and antimicrobial actions.

Mung Bean Dessert – Serves 10

Mung Beans 'Lu Dou'

Ingredients:

•    1 bag dried split mung bean
•    brown sugar pieces (rock sugar)
•    1 bag dried seaweed strips

** Ingredients purchased at Ranch 99 Asian Market

Prep work (can be done while beans are cooking):

•    Soak 1/3 bag of Dried Seaweed in water, wash thoroughly at least 4 times or until seaweed is clean

•    Cut seaweed into desired small pieces

Directions:

•    In 5 quart pot, add l 3⁄4 cups water & half a bag of mung beans

•    Boil on high temp for 30 mins or until beans are soft enough to be crushed with fingers

•    Add 2 1⁄2 sticks of rock sugar

•    Bring flame down to medium and cook for 5-10 minutes or until sugar melts

•    Add cut seaweed & cook for 5 more mins

Can be served hot or cold. Enjoy!

Recipe from Linda B, winter trimester 2012.

This Hyacinth Bean Sauce is delicious and can be made into a dip, much like Middle Eastern hummus.

Basic Ingredients:

'Bai Bian Dou' Hyacinth Beans

• ‘Bai Bian Dou’ Hyacinth Beans
• Lemon Juice
• Water (or broth)
• oil (sesame, olive…)

Additional Ingredients to Spice It Up:

One Way:

• Cumin
• Coriander
• ‘Gan Jiang’ Dried Ginger
• ‘Rou Dou Kou’ Nutmeg
• Sea Salt

Another Way:

• Garlic, crushed
• Cilantro
• Sea Salt
• ‘Hu Jiao’ Crushed Black Pepper

Guide:

• Soak ‘bai bian dou’ hyacinth beans for about 24 hours. Rinse and drain the water several times during the soaking.  Peel off the skins (you can keep skins on if belly is not too sensitive).  Slow cook the beans on low heat for a long time, 4 – 8 hours, skimming off foam or residue that surfaces.

• Mash or process the beans with enough lemon juice, oil and water to get the desired texture and basic flavor.

• Blend in your herbs and spices.

• Serve with vegetables, bread or crackers.

Thanks Alicia for your recipe!

1 1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup toasted + finely ground yi yi ren

1 cup sucanat/raw sugar

2 sticks butter – softened

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips/disks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º F

In a large bowl, put in softened butter. Blend in sugars. Mix in eggs and then add vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients together, and blend into wet mixture. Blend in chocolate chips and nuts. Put heaping teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes.     Thanks Laurel!

Ingredients:

∙ 2 cups organic wild blend brown rice

∙ 2 cups of organic mung bean

∙ 1 modest tablespoon each of powdered: turmeric, coriander, cumin, and ginger

∙ 2 medium sized organic carrots, chopped

∙ 2 medium sized pieces of burdock root, chopped

∙ 1 turnip, chopped

∙ ¼ tsp of salt

∙ 9 cups of water (8 cups for mung bean & rice, 1 for vegetables)

Garnish / Condiment:

∙ 2 small pieces of raw, organic ginger, finely chopped

∙ 2 bushels of scallions, finely chopped

Cooking:

∙ Add ingredients and cook in pressure cooker

∙ Cook on high flame for 10 min. Then reduce flame to medium/low level and cook for 30 – 40 minutes, depending on what kind of stove you have.

∙ Add some of the scallions (~ ½ cup) into hot dish right away

∙ Thereafter, use condiments as you wish

Makes: 4 servings

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

8-12 center-cut beef or veal marrow bones, 3 inches long, 3-4 lbs. total

1 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

2 shallots – thinly sliced

2 teaspoons capers

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Coarse sea salt to taste

At least 4 ½ inch thick slices of crusty bread, toasted.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put bones, cut side up, on foil-lined baking sheet or in oven-proof skillet. Cook until marrow is soft and has begun to separate from the bone, about 15 minutes.

(Stop before marrow begins to drizzle out.)

Meanwhile, combine parsley, shallots and capers in small bowl. Just before bones are ready, whisk together olive oil and lemon juice and drizzle dressing over parsley mixture until leaves are just coated. Put roasted bones, parsley salad, salt and toast on a large plate. To serve, scoop out marrow, spread on toast, sprinkle with salt and top with parsley salad.

1.  Clearing Heat & Harmonizing the stomach (digestive issues, hiccups, etc.)

2.  Dispeling Dampness

3.  Clears the head (headache)

4.  Modern Research show an antineoplastic effect

5.  Modern Research demonstrates its ability to decreases cholesterol

Ingredients:

Green Tea Cookies

• 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 5 oz. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 3/4 cups brown rice flour
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. matcha (powdered green tea)
• 1 cup unrefined sugar (for coating)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

3. Whisk sugar and matcha and flour together in a bowl.

4. Add sugar/macha/flour mixture and butter to bowl of a stand mixer or hand knead thoroughly for until smooth, even, and light in color.

5. Add egg yolks and mix til even but not too much.

6. Form dough into a disk and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

7. Roll dough out to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter of choice.

8. Toss each cut cookie in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat.

9. Place cookies on a parchment-lined pan. 10. Bake 12–15 minutes, or until slightly golden around edges.

Makes about 25.  Thanks Julia!

Ingredients:

Organic Yi Yi Ren With Shell On (from Peggy's farm)

2 cups Yi Yi Ren (Job’s Tears / Coix Seeds) – I had a heck of a time trying to find this and they were at Ranch 99 the whole time!

1 whole cooked chicken, including raw gizzard/giblets

3 large sweet potatoes

1 lb. kale

4 carrots

4 celery stalks

1 large onion

Shelled Yi Yi Ren (use this for the recipe)

3 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

Some olive oil

A bunch of water

Salt to taste

This can be adapted to serve any size group.  The above makes a ton of soup for a large pot luck size.  You can use less ingredients to serve fewer folks.

Directions:

In a small bowl of water, soak Yi Yi Ren for 1-2 hours.

Remove all the meat from a whole, cooked chicken.  In the meantime, make chicken broth using the bones, gizzard and giblets of the chicken, the vegetables (carrots, onions, celery), the spices (garlic, bay leaves) and water.  While this is going on, peel and chop sweet potatoes to desired size.  Also chop up kale.

When the stock is done, fish out the chicken parts.  I tie the chicken parts together so I can easily remove them and keep the vegies in the base of the soup.  Strain the Yi Yi Ren, which should now look puffy and soft.  Add the Yi Yi Ren and the chopped sweet potatoes.  Cook until the sweet potatoes are at desired mush level.  Yi Yi Ren should still be a little crunchy.  Add cooked chicken and kale.  When I add the chicken, I like to shred it in my hands as opposed to chopping it.  I like the texture better.  Bring to a rolling boil then reduce heat and serve piping hot!

Bon appetite!

Rebecca

Mashed 'Ya Dan Zi' Medicine

application, take 5-8 seeds and carefully remove the black seed coating.  This can be done with a mortar & pestle – just be careful not to crack the seed with too much force or the inner medicine will become smashed intermingling with the black seed coat.  Once you have obtained enough of only the white inner portion, mash for a few minutes to forms a paste.  If you are using particularly oily seeds, the mixture may seem slightly sticky and ready to apply to the skin.  If the paste seems a little dry, mix in a few drops of sesame oil.  Place the paste thickly over the wart.  Cover with a bandaid and leave over night.  Repeat this procedure for 1-3 more nights until you detect a change in the wart.  Sometimes the wart turns brown or black and then the outer coating comes off.  This is a good sign.  If this happens, take a break from the remedy and watch to see if the wart continues to diminish over the next week.

Surrounding the Wart with Acupuncture

In addition to the ‘Ya Dan Zi’ herbal plaster, acupuncture needling can be done surrounding the wart to further aid in its removal.  Acupuncture brings fresh new energy to the site and helps to strengthen the healthy qi in the area being treated.  Typically between 3-7 needles can be used to surround the wart.  Needling should be done along the border of the healthy tissue and the wart.  The needles should actually enter transversely into the healthy tissue, each one pointing toward the center of the wart.  The best method involves lots of stimulation, vigorously twirling each needle in an ‘even’ manner for about 5 minutes total.  The goal is that upon removal of the needles, there would be a drop of blood at each location.  This helps to create a little blood stagnation underneath the wart which will eventually cut off the blood supply to the wart and cause it to die.  The results are quite amazing!

1 cup basmati rice

Fresh Tumeric Root & Powder

1/2 cup yellow split mung dal

3 tablespoons ghee

1 tablespoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 pinches hing

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups water

Wash rice and mug dal well by scrubbing them under water in a fine mesh strainer.  If you have time, let mug dal soak for a few hours before cooking, as it helps with digestibility.  If you have a particularly difficulty time digesting beans, you may want to precook the beans for 20 minutes using 4 cups of water.

In a saucepan over medium temperature, heat the ghee and add the mustard, cumin, and hinge. Stir a moment until the seeds pop. Add the rice, mug dal, turmeric and salt and stir until well blended with spices. Add water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Turn down heat to low and cover, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes.

Serves 4

This kitchardi can be eaten by all doshas but especially good for vata.  Indian Kitchardi is easy to digest and serves a similar purpose to eating Chinese congee or jook.  Both of these types of porridge are used to aid in recovery from illness.  The main difference is that kitchardi is typically spicy warm in nature, stimulating the yang energies in the body, whereas congee or jook is more neutral in temperature.